A slightly larger than average Easter offering from James Chocolates comes in the form of this 70% Ecuadorean cacao chocolate egg. It’s a fairly minimalist affair – the dark egg has a drizzling of milk chocolate across one hemisphere and the egg sits in a clear plastic box, held in place by a couple of silver card supports. The only flash of colour comes in the final decoration – a silken ribbon in James’ signature purple and pink livery. Separate the two halves and you’ll find a cluster of James’ dark truffles hiding inside.

Although this is a 70% cacao chocolate, it doesn’t pack a big bittersweet punch. James’ chocolates have always tended towards the softer, sweeter end of the taste spectrum and this is no exception, although I will say it’s definitely one of the more ‘grown up’ James products I’ve tasted, with less sweetness and more of the delicate flavours of the cacao coming through. It’s fragrant, full flavoured chocolate with a hint of spice at the finish.

While I managed to prolong the life of the egg for quite a long time, the truffles’ time in my company was distinctly brief. The fresh cream truffle filling was lovely – and excellent balance between cacao and cream, and to be honest I could happily have had another batch.

At £17 pounds this isn’t going to be in everyone’s budget but it’s competitively priced with other hand finished eggs, and it’s an impressive looking egg.